Food Photography Tips & Festive Vegan Hot Chocolate Recipe

I'm constantly creating food and drink photography for clients that require images for their own websites. I mainly create images for health and fitness brands but when the arises that I can indulge myself and my friends and actually get to drink or eat the props its the best job in the world! Todays blog post has a double offering with food photography tips & festive vegan hot chocolate recipe all rolled into one.

I scour vintage, charity and second hand shops for props, old tarnished cutlery and unusual items that would look great in my photoshoots. I use a lot of antique knives, forks and spoons as they look exquisite in these type of pictures. Using tarnished cutlery really creates depth to an image.

It's a task and a half though searching for these delightful items as they usually get polished beyond recognition before they are sold. Very frustrating if like me you love the rustic feel to food photography. My tip is to head to charity shops and ask for any table placings that would normally be thrown away or taken to an iron mongers. Failing that grab an old black pot of nail polish and get your hands a little messy!

Adding old unwanted relics as I love to call them, brings the focus to the food or drink. This is the key to the photo styling for me. It also brings something unloved back to life. I'm so passionate about rekindling somethings use. Then adding ingredients and garnishes used in the recipe adds zest to the shoot. The props create the atmosphere and the mind drives the taste buds. It's all about careful planning.

Then the photo styling takes place. The angles, the camera settings and above all the lighting. Here I chose to shoot in natural light with the props on the floor. I added pine tree branches, eucalyptus leaves, grated messy chocolate and a beautiful old once loved tea spoon. Images shot at f1.8 and f2.8 using a 55mm lens, ISO 400 using my Sony a7ii camera.

Now for the part you will be longing for....the actual recipe! To create this festive vegan hot chocolate you will need a few essentials like dark chocolate, a milk frother and a nice big mug as you will want it to last forever!

Festive Vegan Hot Chocolate Recipe Ingredients

1 mug of almond milk

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

1-3 Dark chocolate cubes to melt

1 cube of dark chocolate to grate and garnish

1/2 tsp Agave nectar syrup

Pinch of nutmeg if desired

Method

Pour the almond milk into a large mug leaving a small gap at the top to allow the milk to froth.

Pour into a milk frother or pan and either turn on or whisk till hot and fluffy

While the milk is heating through add the rest of the ingredients into the mug

Pour the hot milk over the chocolate and then stir until the entire ingredients are combined and creamy

Grate one square of dark chocolate over the mug and serve

I hope you loved today's photography and food blog post and creative tips! If you spot me out and about rummaging through old knives at vintage fairs you now know why I'm obsessed with all kinds of unusual items!